Acushnet Company Leads the Way

The golf industry for clubs, apparel and accessories is known to be a extremely competitive field.  This competitiveness has formed over the past ten years when companies like Nike, Adidas and Mizuno entered the golf industry picture.  While these companies have made a surge at entering this industry and being successful, there has been one company that has been successful for a while now.  This company that I mention is that of the Acushnet company.  Many people who follow golf or are the occasional golfer have no clue who this company is and would probably say that they have never seen any of their golf equipment.  They may think that they have not seen any of their equipment, but that is completely false because they own the most popular brand in golf known as Titleist.  The Acushnet Company produces the value priced golf ball Pinnacle, Cobra golf equipment, Scotty Cameron putters, Vokey Design Wedges, golf bags, outerwear and Footjoy accessories.  Items that make the company as successful as they are is there #1 selling Titleist ProV1 golf ball and their classic Footjoy golf shoes and golf gloves.  These top selling items allows the Acushnet Company to keep their grasp on the golf equipment industry.  With their years of experience in the industry the company is still years ahead of other companies when it comes to the technology that factors into golf. 

     Since the golf industry has expanded in the past five years there has not only been an increased competition to create new technology, but most of the competition comes when companies are trying to sponsor professionals on the PGA Tour.  The Acushnet Company sponsors the most players on the PGA Tour and their golf ball is the number one ball on the tour, yet there is the lack of star power amongst the players they sponsor.  Some of the players that the company sponsors that have won on tour are players such as Adam Scott, Davis Love III, Steve Stricker and Geoff Ogilvy.  This is where the company has fell behind the game because even though they sponsor the most players on tour, they really lack in the star power of their spokesmen.  For instance, when Nike finally decided to enter the golf industry, Nike signed Tiger Woods to a record deal in which he left Titleist for.  In the future that is one area that the company needs to work on.

     It is evident that the Acushnet Company has a strong hold on the golf industry in almost every area.  Since they have been such a power in the industry, other companies in the industry are working harder to over take them.  The company does have an advantage and more experience over the rest of the field, however there are some question marks that may come up in the near future.  The biggest question mark for the company is the recent sale the company has made with Puma.  The company last year just sold off the Cobra portion of their company to the sport apparel company Puma.  Puma is taking the industry by storm with their hip and colorful clothing on the market.  I feel that the Acushnet company with this sale is trying to encourage competitiveness that they really do not need.  Since the company sold of the Cobra portion of the company, they have stated that this will allow them to put even more work into making their other products better than they already are.  This sale was financially a great sale for the company because it puts more money in their pockets with less of an overhead, but I feel that strategically this may come back to bite them in the distant future.  For right now however, the Acushnet Company has a strong hold on the golf industry that does not seem to be in any harm right now.  The Acushnet Company will continue on its path and lead the way for the rest of the industry financially and technologically.